When a locomotive or other rail vehicle is not in transit, such as when the locomotive resides in a rail yard or station, the locomotive may be placed in a standby condition where an internal combustion engine of the locomotive is shut-off. By shutting off the engine, combustion does not occur. As such, fuel is preserved and emissions are reduced.
In one example, during the standby condition, some applications and/or appliances on the locomotive remain active to provide communication capabilities, record events, take sensor measurements, etc. The applications and/or appliances that remain active during the standby condition are powered by an energy storage device on the locomotive, such as a battery.
The inventors herein have recognized some issues in such systems. For example, if the locomotive engine is not started in a timely manner, then the locomotive applications and/or appliances that remain active during the standby condition compete for power from the battery, resulting in battery dissipation. Upon battery dissipation, a state of charge of the battery may be too low to facilitate engine starting. Further, upon battery dissipation, the applications and/or appliances abruptly lose power without having an opportunity to properly shut down, which results in potential data loss and/or corruption.